HE 2004 in San Francisco Cancelled - The West Coast version of Primedias Home Electronics show (formerly the Stereophile Show) - which was scheduled to open Thursday - was cancelled due to the on-going hotel workers strike of 14 hotels, including the Westin-St. Francis where the event was scheduled.

Music Sales Up Over 10% - Data issued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) shows a 10.2% increase in shipments of full length CDs to retail stores over last year. Licensed digital downloads on the Net also showed growth, and that in fact is proving one of the big money-makers in its new, legal, form. The DVD music video area also showed considerable growth. Shipments of CDs to dealers, however, remained down 4.3% compared to 2001. And sales of the two new hi-res audio formats combined amounted to about the same as that of the refusing-to-become-obsolete vinyl LP - about 600,000 units. [So get out there and vote for SACD or DVD-A with your pocketsbook!]

Warner Releases First DualDiscs - Warner Music Group has issued their first four DualDisc albums - the new format with CD on one side and DVD-V or DVD-A on the other. The DVD side of the discs offers both full videos and the DVD-Audio option. The four discs are from Simple Plan, The Donnas, Trapt, and The Grateful Dead. The Dead DualDisc, from Rhino, includes two exclusive video interviews, with Bob Weir and Mickey Hart.